Before NVIDIA released the RTX 40 series, a lot of news showed that the new generation of new cards will have a lot of power consumption, especially the RTX 4090 equipped with AD102.
In February of this year, someone who broke the news said that the RTX 40 series graphics card of NVIDIA's next-generation flagship AD102 will have a TGP power consumption of 900W, and users had better prepare a 1500W power supply. At present, Nvidia has clarified that the rumor is not true.
If you buy an ad102, have a 1500W power supply ready.🙃
— Greymon55 (@greymon55) February 23, 2022
Nvidia has answers to some frequently asked questions on its customer support page explaining the minimum power requirements for new cards. The bottom line at this point seems to be that as long as the user has a quality power supply that meets the minimum power consumption wattage requirements, then there is no problem.
Simply put, as long as your current power supply has enough performance, you don't need to buy a new one.
The TDP of the RTX 4090 is 450W, so NVIDIA recommends that the total power of the power supply be at least 850W. Similarly, the 16GB RTX 4080 is only 320W, and the recommended power supply is 750W, while the 12GB version of the 4080 only needs 700W.
Of course, compared with the previous generation, the power consumption of the new card has increased to a certain extent. For example, the 4090 is 3090 Ti, and the RTX 4080 16GB is 30W lower than the RTX 3080 Ti.
In addition, the 40 series GPU uses a new PCIe 5 16pin power adapter, but the official one comes with an adapter, so you can continue to use the current power supply and cable as long as you meet the minimum power requirements, but there are definitely some benefits to switching to a new power supply. Yes, otherwise you have to insert three or four 8pin lines.
Nvidia says the adapter has reference circuitry that "translates the 8-pin header state to the correct sideband signal according to the PCIe Gen 5 (ATX 3.0) specification." It can also tell the GPU if three or four 8-pin connectors are plugged into it. If four are detected (600W total), it allows the card to unlock more power headroom for overclocking.
Having said that, some people may be curious. Now that the RTX 40 series graphics cards can use existing power supplies and cables, why change to a new connector standard?
Nvidia says the PCIe Gen5 power connector is the new standard for PCIe power. The standard lets you use a single wire to power the graphics card, which simplifies cable routing and improves airflow inside the case, among other benefits.
In other respects, Nvidia also said that PCIe 5.0 connectors are rated at 30 cycles, which is no discount compared to the previous standard.
Finally, power supply manufacturers have previously warned that non-ATX 3.0 power supplies and the new 16-pin power connector may be at risk of overcurrent or overpower. Nvidia now says the company had a single-vendor issue early in development that has since been resolved. Therefore, Nvidia emphasizes the need to use high-quality power supplies from well-known brands, and many small-brand power supplies may not follow the PCI-SIG guidelines as strictly as well-known brands.
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